J'nae Rae wrote:Why today???? Joni sent me an email asking if I got my Honorable Mention certificate for 3rd Quarter. I saw Galaxy Press and Honorable Mention before opening it and thought, well that's that. Nope. Now I'm really twitching!

Good luck, J'nae, don't twitch too hard. I'm still in too, but I have very little hope that this story will survive to Finalist. Not because I don't like it, but just that it seems very out of place for this contest. Though I guess stranger things have happened...

beerian wrote:Good luck, J'nae, don't twitch too hard. I'm still in too, but I have very little hope that this story will survive to Finalist. Not because I don't like it, but just that it seems very out of place for this contest. Though I guess stranger things have happened...

Hey Steve,

Did the PD's workshop this entry? Mine is a rewrite of my Q3 HM. The one I drove you all crazy with the names.

disgruntledpeony wrote:This is a lot more fun than hiding under a table. I'm gonna see if I can find time to draw up the banner myself in the next few days (maybe tomorrow after truck). Love the design and color choices, amoskalisk!

beerian wrote:Good luck, J'nae, don't twitch too hard. I'm still in too, but I have very little hope that this story will survive to Finalist. Not because I don't like it, but just that it seems very out of place for this contest. Though I guess stranger things have happened...

Hey Steve,

Did the PD's workshop this entry? Mine is a rewrite of my Q3 HM. The one I drove you all crazy with the names.

That was a good story, should do well. Yes, PD critiqued my story, but can't say the name here, because that could disqualify it. Take care not to reveal any details of your story on the forum. I'll send you an email about which one it was.

If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain2015, Q4: R2016: SF, n/a, SHM, SHM2017: SHM, n/a, F

JeremySzal wrote:This arrived in my inbox. The body of the email says:

Your story has been judged and is an Honorable Mention for the 4th quarter.

By the subject line of the email says...

Your story received Honorable Mention 2nd Quarter

I'm...confused? I got a HM in the second quarter...so am I out or not?

I wrote my Q4 especially for WoTF and at it's absurd word count I don't know where else to send it. Teetering between emotions here...

The subject line is probably where the error lies. I'd assume the body of the e-mail to be correct, considering the time-frame and the large amount of HMs that have come out today.

What's the wordcount, if I may be so bold as to ask?

If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain2015, Q4: R2016: SF, n/a, SHM, SHM2017: SHM, n/a, F

JeremySzal wrote:This arrived in my inbox. The body of the email says:

Your story has been judged and is an Honorable Mention for the 4th quarter.

By the subject line of the email says...

Your story received Honorable Mention 2nd Quarter

I'm...confused? I got a HM in the second quarter...so am I out or not?

I wrote my Q4 especially for WoTF and at it's absurd word count I don't know where else to send it. Teetering between emotions here...

The subject line is probably where the error lies. I'd assume the body of the e-mail to be correct, considering the time-frame and the large amount of HMs that have come out today.

What's the wordcount, if I may be so bold as to ask?

Yeah, I suspect you're correct. And yes, you may ask: the story is just inching over 10k, almost twice as long as anything I've sold that wasn't solicited. It's not the sort of story that can be cut down either.

JeremySzal wrote:It's not the sort of story that can be cut down either.

Is it something that could be expanded on instead? Novellas are a thing. (I will admit, I'm not overly familiar with how easily marketable they may be, but it might be worth considering.)

If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain2015, Q4: R2016: SF, n/a, SHM, SHM2017: SHM, n/a, F

Congratulations to the HMs, and SHMS, and especially to Greenroom and Ishmael with the Semi's. That is so cool, Greenroom that you converted an HM to a Semi! And Ishmael, next stop, finalist! Great work! Bet you're looking forward to Dave's critique.

Thanks everyone. I suspect I know what I did wrong even before the crit. It just came to me this morning. Right in the middle of the crucial decision I'd left in a tension-deflating passage just because it was so beautifully-written (in my opinion.) Serves me right. We must never ever self-indulge in narcissism. It's a short story competition, not poetry.

So I went right to the passage, decided it could be completely deleted and whizzed the story out again to Interzone, who in my case have a record of a service return so fast it's probably on its way already.